NFL: Super Bowl XXXV: Will America Watch?
With what appears to be a sub-par Super Bowl this year, the big question is whether anyone will watch. The more important issue is whether parity will eventually harm or help the NFL.
As we approach the kickoff to Super Bowl XXXV it’s interesting to note whom the Conference champions are. The Baltimore Ravens and the N.Y. Giants by all accounts, shouldn’t be in this game.
In August of 2000 Sports Illustrated’s NFL guru, Peter King predicted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would face the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXV. Super Bowl XXXV, features the Ravens and the N.Y. Giants.
In August of 1999 SI’s scouts selected the Jaguars to meet the Vikings in Super Bowl XXXIV. The teams in Super Bowl XXXIV were the St. Louis Rams and the Tennessee Titans.
In August of 1998 SI selected The Jacksonville Jaguars to play against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl XXXII. The teams in that Super Bowl were the Denver Broncos and the Atlanta Falcons.
See where I’m going with this? The so-called experts are having a tough time predicting the winners in this topsy-turvy age of parity.
Where are the elite quarterbacks? Where are the high-powered, highly sought after coaches? They’re home watching the game like the rest of us.
The “No Respect” teams are playing in front of millions of viewers for the big prize, the Lombardi Trophy. Who’d of thunk?
Twenty years ago, the Raiders became the first team to reach the Super Bowl after winning three playoff games, as a wild card. The Denver Broncos did it again in 1997.
When Super Bowl XXXV kicks off the Ravens will be the second wild-card team in a row in the final game, the third in four years.
Parity, it has its trade-offs. The end of dynasties, the end of quarterbacks being the dominant X factor in a big game. Football, the ultimate team sport is becoming the epitome of unpredictability. The scales can be tipped in either direction quite suddenly in today’s NFL. Maintaining the fragile balance of talent, egos, personalities and goals, within salary cap constraints and free agency landscape is proving to be more than a little difficult for franchises. But how do the fans feel about it? Monday Night Football’s ratings are down. Yet, game attendance set records this season. What’s going on here?
Those teams American football fans worshipped for decades, the San Francisco Forty Niners, the Cowboys, and the Packers have fallen from grace. When these teams were dominating the championships fans learned to either love them or hate them. No ambiguity, no disinterest. Even the most casual of football observers knew the names, Joe Montana, Troy Aikman, Jerry Rice, Brett Favre and John Elway. They felt something towards them and those feelings translated into ratings and passion, and interest. The introduction of PSL’s or the obscenely high-ticket prices notwithstanding, attending a football game is still a slice of Americana. Sitting in front of the tube and listening to Dennis Miller expound on the edges of absurdity, not so much!
Teams that heretofore have not been considered as contenders are being reborn. St. Louis Rams, Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens, when’s the last time you saw them on NFL classics? Does the average American know who these guys are? Will this Super Bowl draw the national audience? Or will the success of parity spell economic doom for the marketing efforts of the NFL? Fans like to identify with their teams, with their heroes, unfortunately, the teams have been moving around the country and the players are here today and gone tomorrow. Parity, yes, it is great for the underdog, it is great for the fans of those teams. But I feel like we’re stuck in a moment. It’s a turning point for the NFL, with the fledgling XFL pulling at the football fan base will the interest of the avid football fan diminish?
Still, we are going to plan the party, we are going show some interest. If we’re lucky it will live up to the incredible hype these Super Bowls have become, if not, we’re not surprised. Yes parity has its tradeoffs, it is exciting to watch the teams no one gave a chance play in the Super Bowl. It’s fun to watch two underdogs play for all the marbles. They deserve our respect. I just don’t know if we care quite as much as we used to.
Ivette Ricco is the femmefan.
In August of 2000 Sports Illustrated’s NFL guru, Peter King predicted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would face the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXV. Super Bowl XXXV, features the Ravens and the N.Y. Giants.
In August of 1999 SI’s scouts selected the Jaguars to meet the Vikings in Super Bowl XXXIV. The teams in Super Bowl XXXIV were the St. Louis Rams and the Tennessee Titans.
In August of 1998 SI selected The Jacksonville Jaguars to play against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl XXXII. The teams in that Super Bowl were the Denver Broncos and the Atlanta Falcons.
See where I’m going with this? The so-called experts are having a tough time predicting the winners in this topsy-turvy age of parity.
Where are the elite quarterbacks? Where are the high-powered, highly sought after coaches? They’re home watching the game like the rest of us.
The “No Respect” teams are playing in front of millions of viewers for the big prize, the Lombardi Trophy. Who’d of thunk?
Twenty years ago, the Raiders became the first team to reach the Super Bowl after winning three playoff games, as a wild card. The Denver Broncos did it again in 1997.
When Super Bowl XXXV kicks off the Ravens will be the second wild-card team in a row in the final game, the third in four years.
Parity, it has its trade-offs. The end of dynasties, the end of quarterbacks being the dominant X factor in a big game. Football, the ultimate team sport is becoming the epitome of unpredictability. The scales can be tipped in either direction quite suddenly in today’s NFL. Maintaining the fragile balance of talent, egos, personalities and goals, within salary cap constraints and free agency landscape is proving to be more than a little difficult for franchises. But how do the fans feel about it? Monday Night Football’s ratings are down. Yet, game attendance set records this season. What’s going on here?
Those teams American football fans worshipped for decades, the San Francisco Forty Niners, the Cowboys, and the Packers have fallen from grace. When these teams were dominating the championships fans learned to either love them or hate them. No ambiguity, no disinterest. Even the most casual of football observers knew the names, Joe Montana, Troy Aikman, Jerry Rice, Brett Favre and John Elway. They felt something towards them and those feelings translated into ratings and passion, and interest. The introduction of PSL’s or the obscenely high-ticket prices notwithstanding, attending a football game is still a slice of Americana. Sitting in front of the tube and listening to Dennis Miller expound on the edges of absurdity, not so much!
Teams that heretofore have not been considered as contenders are being reborn. St. Louis Rams, Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens, when’s the last time you saw them on NFL classics? Does the average American know who these guys are? Will this Super Bowl draw the national audience? Or will the success of parity spell economic doom for the marketing efforts of the NFL? Fans like to identify with their teams, with their heroes, unfortunately, the teams have been moving around the country and the players are here today and gone tomorrow. Parity, yes, it is great for the underdog, it is great for the fans of those teams. But I feel like we’re stuck in a moment. It’s a turning point for the NFL, with the fledgling XFL pulling at the football fan base will the interest of the avid football fan diminish?
Still, we are going to plan the party, we are going show some interest. If we’re lucky it will live up to the incredible hype these Super Bowls have become, if not, we’re not surprised. Yes parity has its tradeoffs, it is exciting to watch the teams no one gave a chance play in the Super Bowl. It’s fun to watch two underdogs play for all the marbles. They deserve our respect. I just don’t know if we care quite as much as we used to.
Ivette Ricco is the femmefan.
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